He could have flopped after Dock of the Bay. He could have put out utter crap. He could have had the one major hit and went back to charting strictly on the R&B charts.

Arguments like this are kind of shiatty. I mean, let's say Hank Williams hadn't drank himself to death by 1953... is it more likely he would have kept putting out music like he had been, or that he would have been swallowed up by the Nashville sound and letting producers put strings and the Jordannaires on his albums because that's what made him money?

He could have flopped after Dock of the Bay. He could have put out utter crap. He could have had the one major hit and went back to charting strictly on the R&B charts.

Actually, "Dock of the Bay" was released posthumously, and an argument could be made that it only hit #1 because of the attention paid to his death. Prior to his death, he put a few songs into the Top 40 on the pop (i.e. not R&B/soul) charts, including "I've Been Loving You Too Long," "Try a Little Tenderness," and even "Tramp" with Carla Thomas, but nothing into the Top 10.

I think it's fair to say that his career trajectory would have mirrored that of Stax Records: he would've peaked in '67-'69, and his star would've started to fade with the rise of disco-inflected soul in the early '70s. His sound was pretty stable, and he wasn't about to start doing Issac Hayes-type material just because tastes changed. He would've spent most of the '70s isolated in the soul charts like the rest of the Stax lineup -- Sam & Dave, the Staples Singers, etc., and would've largely gigged as a nostalgia act. Or worse, would've put out a lot of crap trying to stay relevant in late '70s/early 80s like Aretha Franklin. Whether he would've been able to resurge when soul got big again in the late-'80s (thanks to "The Big Chill" soundtrack reigniting interest in classic Motown) or the mid-'90s (when Stax records were getting attention being sampled for rap songs) is a tougher question.

He could have flopped after Dock of the Bay. He could have put out utter crap. He could have had the one major hit and went back to charting strictly on the R&B charts.

Actually, "Dock of the Bay" was released posthumously, and an argument could be made that it only hit #1 because of the attention paid to his death. Prior to his death, he put a few songs into the Top 40 on the pop (i.e. not R&B/soul) charts, including "I've Been Loving You Too Long," "Try a Little Tenderness," and even "Tramp" with Carla Thomas, but nothing into the Top 10.

I think it's fair to say that his career trajectory would have mirrored that of Stax Records: he would've peaked in '67-'69, and his star would've started to fade with the rise of disco-inflected soul in the early '70s. His sound was pretty stable, and he wasn't about to start doing Issac Hayes-type material just because tastes changed. He would've spent most of the '70s isolated in the soul charts like the rest of the Stax lineup -- Sam & Dave, the Staples Singers, etc., and would've largely gigged as a nostalgia act. Or worse, would've put out a lot of crap trying to stay relevant in late '70s/early 80s like Aretha Franklin. Whether he would've been able to resurge when soul got big again in the late-'80s (thanks to "The Big Chill" soundtrack reigniting interest in classic Motown) or the mid-'90s (when Stax records were getting attention being sampled for rap songs) is a tougher question.

Well said. Otis deserves all the credit he gets, but there's no reason to think he'd have changed music all that much.

When it comes to the "what ifs" of music, Buddy Holly is the one I'm most interested in.

He could have flopped after Dock of the Bay. He could have put out utter crap. He could have had the one major hit and went back to charting strictly on the R&B charts.

Actually, "Dock of the Bay" was released posthumously, and an argument could be made that it only hit #1 because of the attention paid to his death. Prior to his death, he put a few songs into the Top 40 on the pop (i.e. not R&B/soul) charts, including "I've Been Loving You Too Long," "Try a Little Tenderness," and even "Tramp" with Carla Thomas, but nothing into the Top 10.

I think it's fair to say that his career trajectory would have mirrored that of Stax Records: he would've peaked in '67-'69, and his star would've started to fade with the rise of disco-inflected soul in the early '70s. His sound was pretty stable, and he wasn't about to start doing Issac Hayes-type material just because tastes changed. He would've spent most of the '70s isolated in the soul charts like the rest of the Stax lineup -- Sam & Dave, the Staples Singers, etc., and would've largely gigged as a nostalgia act. Or worse, would've put out a lot of crap trying to stay relevant in late '70s/early 80s like Aretha Franklin. Whether he would've been able to resurge when soul got big again in the late-'80s (thanks to "The Big Chill" soundtrack reigniting interest in classic Motown) or the mid-'90s (when Stax records were getting attention being sampled for rap songs) is a tougher question.

Very possible. He could have also ended up sort of like Marvin Gaye (musically at least) and maintained a steady-if-not-gangbusters career through the 80s. "Dock of the Bay" might have done as well as it did because of the interest due to his death - but it's not like he was some obscure artist on an unknown label. It still would have done well, and on top of that its enduring popularity has little to do with his death.

Either way, we'd have still gotten to hear him sing for a lot more years than we did. Reading his name and Sam Cooke's in the same article (not that that's a rare occurrence) gives me a sad.

/For the record, I don't think either Otis Redding or Sam Cooke had the experimental natures to do what Marvin Gaye did.

He could have flopped after Dock of the Bay. He could have put out utter crap. He could have had the one major hit and went back to charting strictly on the R&B charts.

Arguments like this are kind of shiatty. I mean, let's say Hank Williams hadn't drank himself to death by 1953... is it more likely he would have kept putting out music like he had been, or that he would have been swallowed up by the Nashville sound and letting producers put strings and the Jordannaires on his albums because that's what made him money?

Hate to admit it but you're right. Potential is often unrealized. That said, the Redding/Hendrix live at Monterey album is unbefarkinlievable.

I got a box set of The Complete Stax/Volt singles over twenty years ago. I don't know what makes this collection different. Mine has 10 CD's of stuff, from when they started out by producing white 'Church' music through the Bar-Kays and Isaac Hayes. There's a lot of forgettable stuff in there, but some really amazing forgotten gems too.

Crewmannumber6:I got a box set of The Complete Stax/Volt singles over twenty years ago. I don't know what makes this collection different. Mine has 10 CD's of stuff, from when they started out by producing white 'Church' music through the Bar-Kays and Isaac Hayes.

This 3-disc set is just Otis' records with Stax.

And I'm assuming you're talking about this set:

I hate to break it to you, but there are two more 9-disc sets after that one:

So you're about 18 discs behind. Better clear your plans for the weekend...

Crewmannumber6:I got a box set of The Complete Stax/Volt singles over twenty years ago. I don't know what makes this collection different. Mine has 10 CD's of stuff, from when they started out by producing white 'Church' music through the Bar-Kays and Isaac Hayes. There's a lot of forgettable stuff in there, but some really amazing forgotten gems too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9k4MHA9BV0 - Sam & Dave Soothe Me

I cannot consider any song played prominently in The Blues Brothers movie to be "forgotten".

/scene where Elwood is pulled over, right before he explains SCMODS and they lead the cops on the mall chase.

FirstNationalBastard:Crewmannumber6: I got a box set of The Complete Stax/Volt singles over twenty years ago. I don't know what makes this collection different. Mine has 10 CD's of stuff, from when they started out by producing white 'Church' music through the Bar-Kays and Isaac Hayes. There's a lot of forgettable stuff in there, but some really amazing forgotten gems too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9k4MHA9BV0 - Sam & Dave Soothe Me

I cannot consider any song played prominently in The Blues Brothers movie to be "forgotten".

/scene where Elwood is pulled over, right before he explains SCMODS and they lead the cops on the mall chase.